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Page 71
the asking and the getting, but if a thing was not worth a slap or two, it was not worth asking for either. He followed Ian around the table and began to squeeze himself between his mother and his idol.
"Go to your mother's left hand, Adam," Ian ordered.
"But Ian, I want to sit next to you. I want to know"
"Gentlemen do not sit together when ladies are present," Ian reproved, "nor do they speak of subjects that would not interest their companions."
So clear an expression of horror appeared on Adam's face that Alinor had to bite her lips, and Ian's mouth twitched uncontrollably. The child frowned. "You are not near so much fun as my warden as you were when you were my friend," he complained.
"That is true, because it is now my duty to see that you grow into a man worthy of your breeding and station. And the doing of one's duty is more important than any other thing, even the pleasure it would give me to sit beside you or the joy it would give me to give you pleasure."
That was sufficiently complex a statement to send Adam, silent as he thought it over, to the seat indicated. Meanwhile, Ian stepped over the bench and sat down between Alinor and Joanna. The squires, who had been waiting, came from the sides of the table to pour wine. Ian watched their handling of the flagons, noting that Geoffrey's hand shook so much that some wine was spilled. Alinor remarked politely that she had ordered cheese and a cold pasty to be served, since the "men" were riding out. Ian thanked her formally. Then she turned to Adam and he to Joanna. He heard Alinor murmur softly to her son that the proper thing was to offer her some of the pasty and the cheese the squires were slicing. Again that peculiar joy-pain tore Ian: the intense pleasure of being in the bosom of this family,

 
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